WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) President Capt. Lee Moak
issued the following statement today in response to recent union-busting
campaigns by several Midwestern state legislatures:

“As we have seen too often in our own industry, pay, benefits, and work
rules can change, and not always for the better. But we firmly believe
that any changes in employment deserve to be negotiated directly with an
employer, not arbitrarily imposed by government or the courts.”

“The 53,000 members of the Air Line Pilots Association, International,
stand together with the public sector workers of Wisconsin, Indiana, and
Ohio and anywhere collective bargaining rights are threatened. The
ability to join as a group to negotiate working conditions with an
employer is a fundamental tenet of a free democracy.

“Teachers, police officers, firefighters, nurses, and other public
employees are the bedrock of our society. They deserve our respect and
recognition for the essential work they do. Like all workers, they also
deserve the right to organize their members and bargain on their behalf.

“Many of the basic work conditions every American takes for granted,
including retirement plans, employer-sponsored health care, the five-day
work week and paid holidays came as a direct result of advances made by
organized labor. Regardless of whether they belong to a union, every
working American enjoys benefits won through collective bargaining. The
current anti-labor backlash perpetuated by some cynical politicians
ignores our history and cheapens the collaboration between labor and
management that has created the most prosperous, best-educated workforce
in the world.

“As we have seen too often in our own industry, pay, benefits, and work
rules can change, and not always for the better. But we firmly believe
that any changes in employment deserve to be negotiated directly with an
employer, not arbitrarily imposed by government or the courts.

“We urge all ALPA members to support their union colleagues and take a
stand with them for the American principles of fairness, equity, and
justice.”

Founded in 1931, ALPA is the world’s largest pilot union, representing
nearly 53,000 pilots at 38 airlines in the United States and Canada.
Visit the ALPA website at www.alpa.org.